Radio audible signals



` Oct. 23, 1934. L, SOMMELQ 1,978,286

RADIO AUDIBLE SIGNALS Filed March l, 1933 FIG. l.

FIG-.

/NVEN TOR Patented Oct. E23, 1934 1,918,286 RADIO AUDIBLE SIGNALS y Leo Sommer, Montreal, Quebec,l Canada Application Marchi, 1933, Serial No. 659,157

In Canada March 2,1932

1 Claim;

The invention relates to radio audible signals, as described in the present specication and illustrated in the accompanying drawing that. forms part of the same. I The invention consists essentially in the installation of a radio transmitting equipment, on a railway train adapted to transmit without wires by short waves and within a circumscribed area most of the noises occasioned in the travel of a train preceding the approach to a level crossing in order that these messages may be picked up within the connes of the area by motor cars approaching the level crossing, through a receiving member carried by each motor car, as l pointed out in the claim for novelty following v a brief description of the equipment without reference to known electrical and mechanical apparatus included therein.

The objects of the invention are to eliminate the dangers to life and property incident to level railway crossings, which in these days are great menaces to life and property in v iew of the fact that motor cars travel at tremendous speeds and notwithstanding prohibitive laws and regulations continue to approach and pass these railway crossings at a break neck speed, in other words, a very large percentage of the motorists driving cars take a chance with the result that many of them are badly maimed or killed, and these accidents continue without any noticeable reduction in the loss of life and valuable merchandise; to depend on the noises made by the train itself in approaching a level crossing including of course the whistle and on some occasions the warning bell, as these sounds will be immediately taken up by the transmitter and sent forth, subject to all the ameliorations incident tothe proper carriage of sound without wires and carried on the short waves to the desired distances, as for example, within an area of a few miles, thus taking in the approaches to the level crossing of the highway for a sufficient distance to reach the cars travelling in these approaches to said crossing, which will warn the motorists that they are on the way to a dangerous intersection and that there is a train approaching, so that even the most hazardous of these motorists will pause and bring their cars down to a speed at which they can stop it within its own length, and generally to provide a well known and tried device in connection with a sound giver that heretofore has.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevational View of the locomotive partly in section disclosing the (Cl. Z50- 2) of a railway train approaching a highway intersection.

Figure 2 is a plan viewof this railway train approaching the crossing and showing a motor car also approaching the same crossing.

Figure 3 .is an enlarged front eleyational view of the locomotive, broken away in front to disclose the broadcaster.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view radio transmitting eriuipment.

Like numerals of reference indicate correspending parts in the various iigures.

Referring to the drawing, the railway train is travelling on the trackway, indicated by the numeral 15 in the direction of the intersection 16 which extends from the tracks on either side, forming the approaches 17 and 18 and in the approach 18 a motor car 19 is illustrated and this motor car carries the radio receiving member 20.

The radio transmitting set 2l is here shown as mounted on the roof of the cab 22 of the locomotive and includes the usual 'radio broadcasting equipment such as ampliiier, detectors and various other parts, all contributing to the carrying out of this invention.

The receiver 23 is set to catch the sound of the whistle or warning bell while the receiver 24 is set to catch the sound made by the rumble of the train along the track to which equipment microphones may be added if found desirable.

The posts 25 and 26 support the antennae for broadcasting the sound towards the approaches 17 and 18 so that any noise at all from the locov motive or from the train therebehind will be 99 transmitted in all directions within a short radius and thus reach the approaches of the intersecting road, this being accomplished preferably by short waves, local transmission and thus reach the receiving member 20 and through a loud speaker be heard by the motorist, which should have the effect oi' giving him ample time to avoid any possible collision with the train. i

The showing of the mechanism is merely diagrammatic for the purpose of pointing out the members which are contributory to a combination, and it will be well understood that such devices will have to be installed by experts and placed, where most needed, to gather in the sound to be conveyed by air to the motor car or other road vehicle.

This combination of radio transmitting and receiving sets with a motor car and a railway train, has never been known before and the cooperative use thereof should prove a great boon to the public and a considerable relief to the locomotive engineer, especially in regard to the passengers and property under his care, while to the motorist the security it aiords for him will more than compensate for the slight expense attached to installation.

The operation is of course enected automatically by the locomotive engineer, following his regulations and the conventional acts resulting from these regulations, as the rumbling of the train travelling along the track will be conveyed at all times, but the whistle or the bell will furnish further evidence of danger and be brought to the motorists ears with such a distinctness and clarity as will startle him, in the event of his being too close to the track already, and thus forbid him to cross it, thereby accomplishing the main objects of the invention.

What I claim is:-

The method oi.' broadcasting warning signals from a railway train equipped with audible warning devices and radio wave transmitting apparatus, to a vehicle provided with radio wave receiving apparatus which comprises, collecting on the train audible signals produced by the warning devices and general noise accompanying a train in motion, converting the audibie signals into electrical variations, employing the electrical variations to modulate the radio wave transmitted from the train, and receiving and 1e-modulating the radio wave at the vehicle to produce a warning which will bear a substantial resemblance vto the audible warning devices and the general noise accompanying a train in motion.

LEO hm/IER.

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